Raw Farms LLC, formerly known as Organic Pastures, is recalling all fluid raw milk and raw heavy cream with best buy dates that extend out for another week to Nov. 6 because of Salmonella contamination and illnesses linked to it.
Food Safety News reported on Oct. 27 that there are 19 people sick in Orange and San Diego counties after drinking raw milk from the dairy. Three of them, all children, have been so sick they required hospitalization.
Anyone with raw milk or raw milk products from Raw Farm is urged to discard them immediately.
As recently as this past August, the Fresno, CA-based Raw Farms was also forced to recall raw cheddar cheese over its possible Salmonella contamination. California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones ordered the raw cheddar cheese recall.
Neither the current product recalls nor last August’s cheese recall take up much of any space on Raw Farm’s website, which is dedicated to promoting and selling unpasteurized products.
It does have this promise: “RAW FARM will not offer for introduction, introduce, or cause to be introduced into interstate commerce, or deliver or cause to be delivered for introduction into interstate commerce, any unpasteurized raw milk or raw milk products.”
Ahead of the cheese recall, Raw Farms LLC was placed under a federal court order that, for the next 60 months, requires it to “abide by the decisions of the FDA” with specific requirements for audits and labeling of raw dairy products that must be followed under an independent expert.
Under its former name of Organic Pastures, the dairy had numerous recalls for pathogens in its raw milk.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) found Salmonella bacteria in a routine sample collected at Raw Farm’s Fresno County manufacturing and packaging facility.
The current recall of raw whole milk and raw heavy cream is for the entire State of California, where retail sales of such products are legal. The following Raw Farm products, with Best Buy dates from Oct. 11 to Nov. 6, 2023, included in the latest recall are:
Raw Whole Milk Gallon, 128 oz., Item Number: 1000, Barcode: 835204006004
Raw Whole Milk Half Gallon, 64 oz., Item Number: 1005, Barcode: 835204000095
Raw Whole Milk Quart, 32 oz., Item Number: 1010, Barcode: 835204000019
Raw Heavy Cream, 16 oz.,Item Number: 3050, Barcode: 835204000132
The statewide distribution of the Raw Milk products includes these brands and locations: Bristol Farms, Clark’s Nutrition, Elliott’s Natural Foods, Erewhon Market, Frazier Farms Market, Jimbo’s, Lassen’s Natural Foods, Lazy Acres, Lunardi’s, Mother’s Market, Nugget Market, and Sprouts Farmers Markets.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both urge consumers to avoid drinking raw, unpasteurized milk and eating dairy products made from it. It is against federal law to sell raw milk across state lines.
Raw milk is often found to be contaminated with bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria, as well as viruses including hepatitis A. Pasteurization kills bacteria and viruses.
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